Monday, January 23, 2006

Drawing the Line

The NY Post takes the hard line on the TWU bargaining position, such that it is. They're convinced that taxpayers will be screwed, if not by the TWU, then by the next union that comes up for its contract talks.

Consider that the TWU has set the precedent for taking extreme demands, striking before running out of all other options, getting a deal rejected by their rank and file, and then turn around to put all of the blame on the MTA so that they can start rumblings about another strike. The TWU leadership needs to be taught a lesson in humility - and criminal behavior.

The NY Sun thinks that union leaders even more militant than Toussaint may try to push transit workers into another ill-advised strike.
The union's rejection of this largesse gives the MTA a rare second chance to do the right thing without having to wait for yet another three-year contract to expire. The authority will be doing a service for taxpayers and straphangers if it attends to the long-term stability of its pension system and rethinks raises for employees whose starting salaries are already more than double those of firefighters and policemen. It may be that all this will become a matter for arbitration. But it also may be that instability within the union leads to another illegal strike, as members more radical than even Roger Toussaint militate for walkouts until the subways become a ruinously expensive underground workers' paradise. Let management feel no pressure from the public.


The NY Daily News found that the strike may have altered some people's commuting habits - taking them out of the transit system altogether and cycling or walking to work instead of taking buses or subways.

Prior Coverage: The MTA/TWU Mess Drags On, The Train Wreck Continues, Hold Onto Your Hats: NYC Transit Workers Rejected Contract, The Cowardly Lion
Dissecting the Transit Deal, Awaiting a Deal, A Deal In Sight?, Tallying the Toll, Winners and Losers, Strike Over?, Seeing The Humor in Striking, Three Strikes and You're Out?, Rogering New York, A Pox On Both Their Houses, The Pension Gap, The TWU to NYC: We're Gonna Strike, Taking Sides in the Transit Strike.

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